Homeless man wanted in El Paso murder arrested in Washington

EL PASO, Texas – A homeless man wanted of killing a woman in March was taken into custody in Washington.

Officials arrested Michael Elijah Adams, 43, in Vancouver, Washington on Tuesday. El Paso Police allege that Adams killed Venus Sloan Driscoll, 51, whose body was found March 15 in a vacant lot in the Lower Valley. El Paso Police said previously that Driscoll died due to blunt force trauma to the head and was found along the 9500 block of North Loop.

Officials determined that Adams acted alone and left the area after Driscoll’s death. The homeless woman’s partly decomposed body was found covered by dirt and brush in a desert lot behind a business in the Lower Valley. Driscoll had been homeless for years from Oklahoma and in El Paso for about a dozen years, Lt. Alfred Lowe of the police Crimes Against Persons Unit said in previous reports.

The tent that was Driscoll’s home had been set up near where her body was found in the 9500 block of North Loop Drive.

“Our suspicions are that it is a domestic” violence murder, Lowe said.

According to a grants planner for the homeless coalition, Camille Castillo, Driscoll’s death is “tremendously sad.” People living on the street often have to deal with hazards from criminals involved with drug and alcohol abuse.

“They are always at risk, and it can be dangerous out there,” Castillo said.

Meanwhile, El Paso Police Crimes Against Persons investigators said Adams is being held in Vancouver, Washington on unrelated state charges and the murder warrant issued in the death of Driscoll with a $5 million dollar bond.

No other arrests are anticipated. Adams was featured on the Manhunt Monday fugitive apprehension program on April 25. He is the program’s 80th capture.